Lily's Valentine
by Stardrops
Summary: [COMPLETE] Someone is sending Lily a present every day for the week before Valentines Day, but who is it? And why won't James Potter even spare Lily a glance anymore?
1. Surprise!

Valentines day was fast approaching. Too fast. Lily Evans was miserable. She had no boyfriend, and no admirers. For being one of the most popular girls in the school, she felt like a social reject. She knew her sister Petunia was excited about Valentines day because her new boyfriend was rich and very likely to spoil her rotten. She'd learnt this at Christmas when she had returned home for the two-week holiday. Petunia talked about nothing else. She also made a big deal over Lily not having a boyfriend.  
  
"You really should get one, even if it's only for Valentines Day. I mean, everyone needs a boyfriend! Even if you are an ugly, red-haired freak," Petunia cackled. She loved being nasty to Lily, and made a point of doing it whenever possible. Most of the time Lily just wanted to hex her with something extremely nasty, like bugs crawling over her head constantly. Or one of her favourites was the Rainbow Hex. It turned whoever you were hexing's hair into a rainbow. Most people thought it looked cool, but Petunia would have gone psycho. She thought way too much of her own appearance. Lily smiled to herself, imagining Petunias high pitched wailing.  
  
Lily was startled out of her thoughts by an owl flying through the window. It landed on the table and hooted loudly. She turned to see what it wanted. It was carrying a big box and an envelope. Lily quickly retrieved the burden as the owl glared at her for taking so long. As soon as it was relieved of its package, the owl took off. Lily was left alone with the box.  
  
She wondered who on earth would be sending her a box and envelope now. It couldn't be for Valentines Day, it was still a week away. Couldn't be for Christmas, that was long in the past. She opened the envelope, and a slip of paper fell out. In slightly jumpy cursive, a message was written. "Dear Lily, Surprise! Hope you like it. Your Secret Admirer."  
  
Lily was intrigued. She had a secret admirer! She put the message aside and opened the gold gift-wrap on the box. She gasped. Inside was a gigantic carton of Lily's favourite caramel chocolates, and they were heart shaped with little L's inside them! Lily hugged the box to her chest, her eyes glowing. She had a secret admirer.  
  
Her best friends Samantha and Erin walked into the room. She pounced on them.  
  
"Is this your idea of a joke?" Lily asked them.  
  
They both looked utterly confused. Lily passed them the letter and the box. Their expressions became joyous. "Lily, you have a secret admirer!" squealed Samantha.  
  
"That's so exciting!" said Erin.  
  
"Wonder who it is," said Lily, positive they weren't acting. She could always tell when they were lying, and they didn't look like it this time.  
  
Samantha rolled her eyes. "Well, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? It's probably James Potter. He's had a crush on you for years."  
  
"But, he doesn't know what my favourite chocolates are. He probably wouldn't even have bothered getting them shaped into hearts with little L's inside them. He would have just sent the box," Lily pointed out.  
  
"Hmm.good point. Wonder who it could possibly be then." Erin said.  
  
"Maybe I'll find out on Valentines day," said Lily. 


	2. Wonder who

Lily woke the next morning, ready to begin searching for her admirer. Anyone she caught looking at her more than once was to go on her list. Samantha and Erin had agreed to help.  
  
Together, they walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Each one had a notebook and quill ready. Lily turned to Samantha, who was writing. "Got one already?" Lily asked. Samantha nodded and kept writing. Lily rolled her eyes and kept walking. She sat down at the Gryffindor table and looked around. She could see a few people looking at her, but most of them were girls waving and saying hi. She smiled and waved back, still keeping her eyes peeled for guys staring at her.  
  
She took a bite of her bacon and eggs and was jerked from her thoughts by a raucous peal of laughter coming from a few seats down. It was Sirius Black, James Potter and their group. Lily rolled her eyes. She noticed James was not looking at her. This was getting more and more usual. Before, he would stare at her and try to catch her eye. Now he barely paid any attention to her. Maybe this meant he was finally getting over her! Lily rejoiced.  
  
She turned back to the hall and her breakfast. To her dismay, she noticed Lucius Malfoy looking at her. She was thoroughly grossed out, but wrote his name down. If he, the Slytherin jerk with a liking for calling her "Mudblood" was her secret admirer, she was going to have to hurl herself off a cliff.  
  
Come to think of it, Severus Snape was also staring at her. What was with all the Slytherins suddenly watching her? She resisted temptation to throw something at his face, and wrote his name down. He quickly looked away when he realized she was looking back at him.  
  
She decided to look around her at the other tables. She looked up at James and Sirius, Remus and Peter. She was starting to get confused. James had liked her for ages. Why would he suddenly just get over her? She caught herself. You don't actually miss James liking you, do you? she asked herself. She shook her head and watched the Ravenclaws. By the time breakfast was over, they had at least four people written down each. They compared notes and realized they each had the same four except for Erin, who had missed seeing Severus.  
  
Lily sighed. All the guys they had seen were not at all desirable, and none of the girls thought they were the type to like Lily. She was glad for that.  
  
They spent the rest of the day looking for people, and by the end of the day were totally frustrated.  
  
"I can't find a single person!" Samantha fumed.  
  
"Me neither!" said Erin, looking disgruntled. Erin was considered the queen of fixing people up, and had a knack for knowing when two people secretly liked each other.  
  
Lily found herself being more and more intrigued, especially when another owl came flying through the window at the same time as yesterday's had. It was a different owl though. She took off its envelope and found inside it a letter. When she took the letter from inside the envelope, she found many, many roses had been magically fitted inside. They were all fragrant, and very large. Red, pink, and even white! Samantha and Erin set about counting them and came back shocked.  
  
"Lily, there's sixty seven roses here!" Erin exclaimed.  
  
"Sixty seven?" Lily gasped. "That's my favourite number!"  
  
"Who is watching you so closely they know your favourite number?" Samantha asked. "Oh, Li, I'm so jealous!"  
  
Lily laughed and the trio moved the flowers up to the dormitory where the other girls gasped and oohed and ahhed over them. 


	3. Day Three

By lunch the next day, Lily was breathless with happiness. She was the center of attention in the dormitory all night, with the other two girls helping Samantha and Erin try to figure out who it would be. They all thought James at first, and then realized he seemed to be getting over Lily, so it couldn't be him. Lily found herself strangely sad that James was not into her anymore. She didn't know why. She just felt kind of sad.  
  
She went about her day as normal. They had given up looking for a guy, many people looked at Lily, it was one of the things about being pretty and popular.  
  
The five girls were most eager to get to the common room at midnight that night again to see if Lily got another surprise. First they had to get through a whole day of school.  
  
Lily was very embarrassed when in History of Magic, Professor Age picked up one of the letters she had stuck inside her notebook. It was the one from the previous day, that had a little poem, comparing each of Lily's features to a rose. Professor Age read it aloud to the whole class and then took points of Gryffindor for having notes and letters out in class. He smirked as the whole class started to laugh and talk about Lily. She chanced a glance at James. He was laughing to, but looking at her for a change. Lily raised her eyebrows at him and he waggled his tongue back at her. She rolled her eyes and sank down in her chair. Now everyone in sixth year was going to know, since the Gryffindor table was generally the loudest, and the Ravenclaws, with whom they shared they class, were third only to Slytherin.  
  
Once the class had ended and they could go back to their common room, the girls practically ran. They were hoping it would arrive early, but to their immense disappointment, it didn't. They went to dinner and Lily endured many renditions of the poem she had thought so sweet and slept with under her pillow.  
  
At midnight, the girls were still awake, though dozing off ever so slightly in the common room. Another owl flew like a ghost into the room and Samantha jumped to her feet. They all leaned forward as Samantha took off another envelope and a small box.  
  
Lily opened the letter first. It read, "Heard about the HOM class. Sorry. Hope this will make up for it. Love, your Secret Admirer."  
  
They all looked at each other and smiled. "That is so sweet!" said Samantha who had her hands clasped to her heart as Lily read it aloud.  
  
"Open the box!" everyone else said eagerly. Lily reached for it and took of the beautiful shiny silver wrapping. Inside was a gorgeous necklace. It was gold with a matching pendant. The pendant was shaped like a heart with an emerald inside it. The green of the emerald matched Lily's eyes perfectly. Lily gasped as she pulled it out and Erin put it around her neck.  
  
"Its beautiful," breathed Erin. All the other girls murmured their agreement.  
  
"Who on earth loves you this much?" asked Samantha.  
  
Lily could not answer. Her insides were bursting with joy. 


	4. Hogsmeade

"Are you ready to go, Lil?" asked Erin. The upper classes of Hogwarts were going to Hogsmeade for the day. The girls intended to go dress shopping for nice clothes to wear to the Valentines Day ball.  
  
"Yeah, just give me a second," came Lily's somewhat muffled voice as she pulled a sweater on over top of her white turtleneck. It was still winter outside and she did not want to be cold.  
  
A few minutes later, they headed outside the Hogwarts boundaries and into Hogsmeade. They immediately located a very fancy shop filled with dresses to make even the Queen want to spend the day there. They ran all over the place oohing and aahing over the different styles and colours. They each tried on at least seven dresses before deciding on what they were going to wear.  
  
Samantha modeled a sky blue dress with a silver trim, which brought out her eye colour perfectly. She looked in the mirror and approved before taking it off, looking at the price tag and gasping.  
  
"This dress is two hundred Galleons!" she exclaimed. Then she smiled. "Good thing my parents spoil me rotten, isn't it!" She headed to the counter to buy the dress. Lily and Erin were still searching when she came back. Erin brought out a stunning red dress with a gold lining and trim. It made her already slim waist appear miniscule, and her bust appear much fuller. The men shopping with their wives in the store couldn't help sneaking a glimpse or two at her beautiful figure. The dress was perfect. Erin saw the price tag and said, "Thankfully, its only a hundred and seventy Galleons."  
  
Turning to Lily she said, "Hurry up and find something so we can buy them at the same time!"  
  
Lily was sifting through racks and trying on dress after dress. The other two would hand her dresses and even dress robes in all different shades and colours. As a last resort they tried tailored shirts and pants, skirts and everything the store supplied.  
  
Lily was nearly in tears. "There's nothing here!" she said miserably. Samantha comforted her while Erin bought her dress quickly and they hurried off to find another shop. They found only one more, and the prices in this shop were sky-high. But Lily could not help staring at the dress in the window. It was a beautiful, pure white with a gold lining, and the intricate design on the bodice was lots of little love hearts. The other two just stood and stared at it. They had never seen anything quite so beautiful in all their lives. The price was eight hundred Galleons.  
  
Even despite the price, Lily couldn't resist the urge to try it on. She did, and the transformation was incredible. Lily had always been pretty, but the dress made her figure the kind that Elle McPherson would kill for, the gold lining showed when she walked, the very thin straps that laced over her shoulders and crisscrossed over her back showed off her tan, and the elegant, flowing skirt made her look nothing short of royalty.  
  
Depressed and annoyed, she and the girls headed back to the first shop and bought a cheap skirt and top. They looked all right on her, but nothing special.  
  
That night at midnight, they were waiting. At first there was nothing. They kept waiting for about ten minutes, and the owl came. It looked as though it had been interrupted and was very annoyed. It was irritable as they undid the package, even biting Erin's hand.  
  
Once the owl had flown off, they opened the box. There was no note this time; there was only a small gift. Lily pulled out a teddy bear. It was small, and fluffy and the most adorable thing they had ever seen. It was magical, so it hugged back when you hugged it, and if you spoke very clearly and said, "I would like some chocolate please," it would produce chocolate for you. Lily hugged it to herself. Who cared about not getting the perfect ball gown? She had a secret admirer. 


	5. Sheer Delight

There was only two more days to go til Valentines Day. Lily couldn't imagine anything more her admirer could get her. She was sitting and dreaming about a moonlit horse and carriage ride with her mystery person, when the HOM teacher once again interrupted her thoughts.  
  
"Miss Evans? Miss Evans! Miss Evans, are you listening to me?!"  
  
Lily jerked out of her daydream and nodded. "Yes, sir, I am."  
  
"Then kindly tell me everything that Halem the Horrible did to the witch of Amsterdam in 1656."  
  
The class was more torturous than ever before. She didn't think she could stand any more classes that day, she simply wasn't with it.  
  
James Potter kept smirking at her every time she got in trouble, but other than that, he wouldn't give her even a glance. It was as if, from being his object of dreams, she'd become a fly, or a cockroach, something you wanted to tread on and squash.  
  
Lily didn't know what to do about it. Honestly, its only James Potter. No one special. She was starting to realize tat maybe James Potter was someone special to her. She couldn't get him out of her head mostly, and whenever she dreamed about her and the secret admirer, for some reason, he always looked like James Potter.  
  
She waited in the common room alone that night. Erin and Samantha were exhausted from staying up every night with Lily. They told her to show them whatever she got the next day, because they were just too tired.  
  
She waited for only a short while before the owls soared in. There wasn't one owl, there were three. The box looked large, not heavy as such, just very big. They perched on the chair and she untied them. Then with a smile of wonder, she opened the box. Her face was a picture of surprise. And she pulled out.the dress. The wonderful, eight hundred Galleon dress from the expensive shop in Hogsmeade. She was creeped out now. Someone had been in there watching her try it on. There was a note, too. She picked it up and read it.  
  
"You looked so beautiful, I had to get it for you. Wear it to the ball on Saturday, if you'll be my date. I'll be waiting by the lake. Love, your secret admirer."  
  
Lily hugged the dress to her face. It was beautiful, and hers! She couldn't help herself, she had to wake up the other two and show them. They were just as awed as she was.  
  
"Wow. He spent eight hundred Galleons on you?" Samantha said.  
  
"He must really like you," said Erin.  
  
"And he's got to be someone rich." said Lily.  
  
"Oh, god, you don't think its Malfoy, do you?" Samantha asked with a look of disgust on her face.  
  
"Oh god, I hope not. He's definitely not my type." Lily hugged the dress again. Her eyes were bright. She had a date for the ball! 


	6. Suspense Building

It was the Friday before Valentines Day. Everyone was excitedly swapping rumours, and telling each other who they were going to the ball with, what they were wearing and so forth. Lily kept to herself mostly, and a secret smile lit her face during classes.  
  
She still couldn't figure out James Potter. She had almost given up. She knew now that she liked him. Great. She'd had four years or so to get to be with him, and the moment he lost interest, she realized how much she liked him.  
  
She was still getting over the fact that someone had paid for the expensive dress. She knew it had to be someone with a lot of money. Not knowing who was playing with her mind. She was dying to know.  
  
Boys had asked Samantha and Erin to the ball, though they wouldn't say whom. They grinned and said, "You'll see!"  
  
Lily got the distinct impression they had that day found out who her admirer was. She was very put out that they wouldn't tell her.  
  
She waited up alone again that night, for the secret notes. The others said they needed their beauty sleep. Lily couldn't understand that, they had all the next day to sleep, as they had no classes.  
  
She waited and waited.nothing came. She was about to get up and leave at one thirty when an owl came in. "Finally!" she exclaimed.  
  
She reached for it, but it landed on a rafter out of her reach. She was not in the mood for games and glared at it. It hooted importantly, and waited for her to take a seat. She sank into an armchair.  
  
The owl spread its wings and flew in a pattern, releasing red, pink and gold sparkles as it flew. First it drew a heart. Then it wrote, "I love you, Lily Evans." Then after all that, it threw the glitter all over the room and flew, shimmering out the window.  
  
Lily was so pleased; the entire room was sparkling with magic glitter. She found a package on the chair beside her and picked it up. It would be the last package she got. Tomorrow was Valentines Day. She was debating whether or not to open the box, wondering if she wouldn't keep it and open it another day when she had no expectations. But then curiosity got the better of her and she opened the box. Inside was a phoenix. Not a real one, but a little miniature one that sang and flew and glittered. It was a little guardian phoenix. She was completely amazed. She had always loved phoenixes, and this was incredible.  
  
The phoenix sang her to sleep right there in the common room. She slept peacefully and deeply the whole night long. 


	7. And it is

Lily woke up to find the common room alive with people. Every girl was dressed in red and white, with red ribbons in their hair, or red streaks or something. Everyone had a tribute to the occasion on them somewhere. The common room still glittered, and the memory of last night flittered back into Lily's brain, causing her to smile peacefully.  
  
She got up and went to the dormitory. The little phoenix was still on her shoulder, refusing to leave her until it found its new home, in her room. The other girls oohed and aahed over the phoenix, and it took a liking to them. But it was very protective of Lily, and if anyone so much as even insulted her jokingly, it would sing a fierce tune and glare.  
  
Lily was in heaven. But she was also very worried. What would happen if the person she was supposed to be going to the ball with was a horrible person? Or a loser? Or someone in the first year? Or someone she hated? Or.worse yet.what if they never showed up?  
  
She could have scared herself silly with all the things she was thinking up, but she'd promised the girls a day in the snow, so out they went.  
  
The day passed quickly, and before they knew it, there was only three hours til the ball started. They had to get ready, so they went back up to the castle.  
  
Two and a half hours later, they were all ready. Samantha looked incredible in her dress, she'd put a few blue streaks in her hair to make it match the dress, and she was wearing silver jewellery. Erin was simply accessorized; only a small gold necklace adorned her neck.  
  
Lily was the most beautiful person at the ball by far. She was wearing the dress, her hair was sleek and pulled up into a fancy pile of curls which looked so sweet on her, and she was wearing a little crown of tiny roses that Samantha had conjured. The necklace was around her neck, with the pendant sitting perfectly above the low neckline. She looked stunning.  
  
She walked her friends to the Entrance hall, where they could see everyone staring at Lily. Samantha ran up to James and Sirius, and Samantha took James's arm. Lily stopped in shock. Samantha and James? Since when? She felt a pit opening in her stomach. Sirius had his arm around Erin and led her into the ball. Samantha looked back and waved.  
  
Lily carried on to the lake. She had to admit that a part of her had been hoping that James was her secret admirer, but after seeing him with her best friend, she knew he could not be. She was crushed now. She wondered who on earth could like her enough to buy her all this.  
  
She heard a rustle, and turned to see who it was. It was the phoenix. It had sensed she was upset and had come to comfort her. It sang to her, and for a while she was content to just sit there and listen. But after ten minutes the cold of the snow was starting to really get to her. She was shivering. The phoenix song warmed her insides a bit, but nowhere near enough.  
  
Then, all of a sudden, the phoenix took off. She called out after it, but could not see where it had gone as dark had now fallen. There was more rustling and the crunching of snow being trod on.  
  
Then she realized.  
  
This must be her secret admirer; the phoenix went to him because it recognized him. She stood up straighter.  
  
But she could not see anything. She heard noises of snow underfoot, and realized they must be standing somewhere very close to her. Then she heard a voice coming from behind her.  
  
"Hello, Lily."  
  
She whirled around to see.  
  
"James?" she whispered. "But.I thought you were going to the ball with Samantha?"  
  
He threw back his head and laughed. "Oh, no. That was a decoy to make you think I wasn't the admirer. The two came to see who was in the owlery the night I sent that dress to you. They found out it was me. They agreed to help."  
  
"You sent me this? And the phoenix? And the roses, the teddy, the chocolates.the necklace?" Lily thought she was going to faint.  
  
"All of it," James said, moving a step closer to Lily.  
  
"Why?" Lily asked, breathless with bewilderment.  
  
James laughed softly. "You don't know? Lily, I have loved you almost since I met you. You were the most beautiful girl I ever met. I made a study of your habits and your personality, and then I figured out a way to show you that I truly do love you, and a way to find out if you secretly loved me."  
  
Lily just stood there open mouthed. He had pretended to be over her, so she would realize she liked him.  
  
He took a step closer to Lily and put one arm around her waist, the other gently touched her face.  
  
"Lily, you know that I love you. I've always loved you. But.I don't know if you even like me," he looked into her eyes pleadingly. "Now would be the time to tell me."  
  
She said nothing but fell into his arms, holding him tightly. He lifted her face gently and kissed her lips softly and sweetly.  
  
Lily could have stayed there all night, but they knew they should get back to the castle. So arm in arm, they went to the ball, where Lily was the envy of every girl for her looks and her boyfriend, and James was the envy of all the guys.  
  
Lily suddenly realized that she need never be jealous of Petunia again. She had the best boyfriend in the world, and Petunia could go to hell. As James kissed her again, she felt like the luckiest girl in the world. 


End file.
